While Matt Hughes (41-6 MMA, 15-4 UFC) is arguably the greatest welterweight in mixed-martial-arts history, he’s no longer the top welterweight alive.

That honor has now arguably been wrapped up by Georges St. Pierre (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC), who dominated the future UFC hall-of-famer in the rubber match of their now-legendary series. The second-round submission victory, which earned St. Pierre the UFC’s interim welterweight title, capped off the 10-bout fight card for UFC 79, which took place Saturday at the sold-out Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

After current champ Matt Serra was forced off the fight card last month due to a back injury, St. Pierre opted to step in and fight Hughes instead. The two fighters had met twice before — Hughes defended his title the first time but was outclassed in the second meeting — and the rubber match was set to crown the winner of the series.

With Serra out indefinitely, and hoping to spice up the magnitude of the fight, UFC officials opted to award the winner the UFC’s interim welterweight title to set up a title-unification bout in 2008.

Tonight, it was all St. Pierre. He dominated the first round, scoring an early takedown that was followed by a full round of ground and pound. The second round went much like the first, and though Hughes was able to escape one takedown, the All-American wrestler was thrown back to the canvas for a second. St. Pierre eventually transitioned into a kimura attempt but settled for an arm-bar that forced Hughes to verbally submit at 4:54 of the second round.

Although he was awarded a belt, St. Pierre quickly disposed of it, feeling it wasn’t legitimate.

“Thats why I’m going to take off this belt because for me, yes, it’s a good (part of my) collection,” St. Pierre said. “But it means nothing to me. Thanks to the UFC for giving me (this). It’s a good honor, but the real champion is Matt Serra, and until I get my belt… back, I won’t consider myself the real champion.”

Hughes had no excuses for the loss. And in no uncertain terms, the 34-year-old fighting legend passed the torch to his 26-year-old successor.

“No excuses here,” Hughes said. “I came into this fight 120 percent… Georges is the better fighter. There’s nothing more I can say about it.”

MAIN-CARD BOUTS

Some three-rounders feel like an eternity. Yet, with some fights — especially those that are six years in the making — 15 minutes seems like a blink of the eye.

After Chuck Liddell (21-5 MMA, 16-4 UFC) returned from the first back-to-back losses of his career to post a unanimous-decision victory over recent UFC signee Wanderlei Silva (31-8-1 MMA, 1-3 UFC) at UFC 79, most fans were left hungry for an additional two rounds.

However, working within the constraints of a 15-minute fight, Liddell sandwiched a close second round with dominating performances in the first and third frames. It was enough to earn winning scorecards of 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 in one of the sport’s most historic fights.

Although Liddell took the fight the distance for only the second time in five years (and yet the second time in his past two bouts), he nearly forced a stoppage in the third round. After bloodying his opponent in the second and coming out in the third frame looking the fresher fighter, Liddell threw a spinning backfist that tagged Silva with a forearm. Liddell followed with a series of combinations that had Silva staggering while pinned against the fence. However, Liddell — like he did all night — knew he could only stay in one place for so long.

“I hurt him a few times in the fight, but he kept covering up and coming back at me,” said Liddell. “He recovers quick.”

He allowed Silva time to recover, but it was obvious that the famed Brazilian striker was in no shape to mount a late charge.

For Liddell, he was just happy the fight happened at all.

“I knew this was an important fight to get back on track to get my title back,” he said. “But what a travesty it would have been if we didn’t fight. What a great fight for the fans.”

It was a dominating performance for Sanchez, but it was hardly exciting. However, blame it on a weird match-up rather than a lack of effort on Sanchez’s part.

After wearing down his opponent in the first round, Sanchez had free reign in the next two frames to continually tee off on the UFC newcomer. Using a series of combinations and some well-placed uppercuts, Sanchez appeared to break his opponent’s nose and had Palelei gushing blood for most of the fight.

“He just shut down in the second round,” Sanchez said.

In the third, Sanchez continued the unanswered blows, and as Palelei squinted to see through the blood, the referee finally halted the bout. Sanchez was credited with the TKO victory at 3:24 of the third round in a fight that was hardly a hit with the Las Vegas crowd.

Using his usual counter-striking style while peppering his opponent with head and leg kicks, Machida kept Sokoudjo from mounting any type of offense. Perhaps feeling a sense of urgency, Sokoudjo charged in for a takedown halfway through the second round but ate a left hook in the process. Sokoudjo hit the mat, and Machida eventually transitioned into a fight-ending arm-triangle choke to force the tap-out.

Machida, known for a series of lackluster (though successful) performances in the octagon, negated one of the UFC’s most prized signings while proving his style can, in fact, be entertaining.

“I knew from the beginning I was going to win this fight,” Machida said through a translator. “I just got my (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) black belt… Before the fight, Sokoudjo said he was training kung fu in the jungle. Maybe he should go back to the jungle and train karate.”

The night’s broadcast kicked off with a huge grudge match between rival Melvin Guillard (20-7-2 MMA, 3-3 UFC) and Rich Clementi (30-12-1 MMA, 3-3 UFC). However, in the battle of alumni from “The Ultimate Fighter,” season-four vet Clementi upset his younger rival from the second season.

Clementi connected on leg and body kicks early in the first round, and after Guillard got a little overly anxious following a right hook, his opponent took the fight to the ground. Clementi remained persistent with the takedowns, and after taking Guillard’s back late in the round, the ending was inevitable. After softening up Guillard with some short punches, Clementi locked in the rear-naked choke to force the tap-out at 4:40 of the first round.

The fight didn’t end there, though. The trash-talking continued after the bout, and Guillard continually attempted to charge through security personnel toward Clementi.

“There’s nothing worse than a guy who talks a lot of sh** and can’t back it up,” Clementi said in a post-fight interview. “Go practice some jiu-jistu, Melvin.”

PRELIMINARY FIGHTS

What had the makings of a slugfest ended prematurely when the once-undefeated Luis Cane (7-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) tagged fellow light heavyweight James Irvin (13-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) with an illegal knee early in the first round. Irvin was knocked out cold and unable to continue and had to be helped out of the octagon, but he earns the victory via disqualification at 1:51 of the first round.

“The Ultimate Fighter 5″ lightweight runner-up Manny Gamburyan (5-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) rebounded from a shoulder injury in the show’s live finale for a quick and definitive submission victory over Nate Mohr (8-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC). Gamburyan secured an ankle lock at 1:31 of the first round to force the tap-out.

Veteran middleweight Dean Lister (10-5 MMA, 3-1 UFC) scored a victory over Jordan Radev (11-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) — even if it wasn’t in the flashiest of ways. In the end, all three judges had it 30-27 for Lister, who used takedowns and leg kicks to control most of the bout.

Roan Carneiro (12-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC) controlled Tony DeSouza (10-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) from the opening bell, and after looking for a variety of submissions, he ultimately took DeSouza’s back and threw a flurry of punches for the TKO victory at 3:33 of the second round.

Mark Bocek (5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) survived an early combination from fellow lightweight Doug Evans (5-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) and controlled the final two frames for a unanimous-decision victory. All three judges had it 29-28 for the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace.

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